NBCUniversal Content Distribution Head Matt Bond to Retire

NBCUniversal content distribution head Matt Bond is set to retire after over 20 years with the media giant.

“In the spirit of leaving on a high note, I have decided that it is the right time professionally and personally for me to retire,” Bond wrote in a memo to staff Wednesday. “However, the company has asked me to serve in an advisory role for the next few years, and I have agreed to do so.”

His departure comes as Comcast plans to spin-off its cable network portfolio into a separate, publicly traded company. The move, which will be tax free to Comcast shareholders, is expected to take about a year to complete.

In his current role, Bond has been responsible for overseeing distribution agreements for all NBCUniversal content by multi-channel video providers and new media distributors, including its linear cable and broadcast networks, owned station signals, and TV Everywhere, video on demand film and television products. His team has recently secured agreements with Cox, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, DireTV, Dish Network, Cablevision, Mediacom, Suddenlink and Verizon. 

He also spearheaded the distribution of the Sochi Olympics that resulted in over 242 million media exposures across NBCUniversal’s broadcast, cable and digital properties. Bond and his team oversaw the negotiations with more than 225 distributors and are credited with making the games available to the nation’s more than 100 million cable, satellite and telco customers, who were able to access more than 1,000 hours of live streaming content.  

Prior to NBCU, Bond served as executive vice president of content acquisition for Comcast Cable, where he oversaw the strategic direction of its content portfolio, including all programming agreement negotiations for Comcast’s cable systems. He also led content acquisition for new media rights and strategic multiplatform initiatives, including On Demand Online, and oversaw the launch of XfinityTV.com. 

He also served as executive vice president of distribution for Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network, executive vice president of programming for AT&T Broadband and president of AT&T subsidiary Satellite Services Inc, and programming EVP for Telecommunications Inc. prior to its merger with AT&T. 

More to come…

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